


Dreaming Of The Dead

by cordeliadelayne



Category: Inception (2010), Primeval
Genre: Crossover, Dream Claudia Brown, Dream Helen Cutter, Dreams, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 09:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6418279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lester decides to employ a new training technique.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreaming Of The Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Livejournal in 2010.

“What did you say ARC stood for, again?” Eames asked. He was flicking through Arthur's report but paying more attention to Arthur than the neatly scribbled notes.

“Anomaly Research Centre,” Arthur replied. They exchanged looks. “It's all in there.” Arthur pointed at the file, a frown forming on his face. “At least all I could find. Some sort of British government organisation.”

“Never mind, love, I'm sure you did your best. We Brits do like our secrets.”

Arthur grabbed the file from Eames' hands. “The only reason I brought you in on this...”

“You miss my sparkling wit?” Eames mock batted his eyelashes. Arthur resolutely did not rise to the bait.

“We're going to be late.”

* * * * *

“What?!” Cutter shouted. Lester looked at him from behind his desk and waited for the other man to sit back down.

“You want someone to enter our _dreams_?” Stephen asked. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “How is that even possible?”

Lester straightened up, happy to see that Stephen at least was being practical about this. “I'm not sure about the specifics. It was a technique invented to train soldiers.” He coughed. “I understand the current applications aren't strictly legal.”

Cutter and Stephen exchanged sceptical looks. “American?” Stephen finally asked.

Lester shrugged. “It sounds like something they would do.”

* * * * * *

“And this is it, is it?” Cutter asked, looking down in some bemusement to find that this hi-tech equipment fitted inside a briefcase.

The man who had introduced himself as Arthur nodded. “We are all hooked up to the machine together using these wires, which administer drugs to our system.”

“And if I'm not tired?”

Arthur fought back a smile. “Part of the drug concoction is a sedative. You will fall asleep whether you want to or not.”

Cutter frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. “And you people do this all the time?”

“It's extremely well paying,” the man called Eames drawled. He was leaning nonchalantly against the wall but his eyes were constantly alert. “If you’re the best. Which we are.”

“The difference here,” Arthur began to explain, “is that you will know that you're dreaming. We won't be trying to trick you,” Eames made a small sound in the back of his throat but Arthur pointedly ignored him, “and we can show you what dangers to look out for.”

“Dangers?” Cutter asked, liking this less and less.

“When we go in you'll be entering my dream. I'll create the dreamscape – the details. Your subconscious will inhabit it. Part of that are projections, people that populate the world and make it feel real. They will fight against the dreamer, in this case me, if they feel threatened – they'll know something isn't right and will try to kill me.” Arthur said it very matter of factly but both Cutter and Stephen winced. “It's important to remember that you can't be killed inside a dream. Though you can feel pain.” He gave a small wistful smile. “But since you're going in fully informed that's slightly less likely to happen.”

“We can't be killed doing this. You're certain?” Stephen asked. He was still staring suspiciously at the briefcase and wondering just how the hell Lester had heard about this in the first place.

“Not at this level, no,” Eames said and neither he nor Arthur could be drawn on to explain any more than that.

* * * * *

Arthur had decided to keep things simple, so when Cutter entered the dream he found himself in an exact replica of the ARC. Arthur wasn't an Architect but he'd studied the plans that Lester had given him intently and had decided that they could work without one for just one job.

“Amazing,” Cutter breathed. “It even feels real,” he said, touching his hand against the wall.

“Of course,” Eames said. “It's only when you wake from a dream that you realise there was anything strange about it. While you're in it, it is your reality.”

Stephen nodded and turned around, intrigued. Just when he thought his life had no more surprises left to give.

“So,” Arthur said, immediately getting down to business, “Lester said that he wanted you to get used to this. He's interested in running dream simulations.” Arthur pursed his lips. “He didn't exactly say what you did here though.”

Stephen smiled. “I'm not sure you'd believe us.”

Eames raised an eyebrow. “We enter dreams for a living, I think we would.”

Stephen opened his mouth to explain when a figure appeared in the doorway and he turned towards her. “Cutter – is that Jenny?”

It looked like Jenny but her clothing was different, and there was something...she wasn’t wearing any makeup, that's what it was.

“No,” Cutter said, his face draining of colour. “That's Claudia. Claudia Brown.”

“Old girlfriend?” Eames asked Stephen, as Cutter walked over to the woman, raising his fingers to touch but not quite making them do so.

“Not exactly,” Stephen replied, eyes wide. “She's from a different time line.”

It was Eames' turn to look shocked now. “I'm – what?”

“It seems as if time is as about as secure as dreams are,” Stephen said.

“This is what you do?” Arthur asked. He stepped closer to Stephen, eager for more information.

“Sort of. Mainly we deal with dinosaurs.”

Arthur frowned, unsure of whether he was being mocked or not. “Dinosaurs?”

Stephen nodded then looked over at Eames and Arthur, both of whom had extremely sceptical expressions on their faces. “It's a long story.”

“I wouldn't have thought it was that long, Stephen.”

Stephen grimaced. “Helen. Of course you would show up here.” He looked over at Cutter who was apparently engaging Claudia in conversation. He wondered if what was really happening was Cutter talking to himself and then decided that figuring all of this out was just hurting his brain.

“And this is -?” Eames asked.

“Cutter's ex.” Helen raised an eyebrow. “And mine.”

Arthur sighed. “Lester didn't tell us anything about this.”

Stephen shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters. We don't just go into dreams unprepared....” He was cut off as the projection of Helen Cutter circled around Stephen and then plunged a knife into Arthur's chest. As he fell to his knees Stephen thought that the expression on Arthur's face was more annoyance than pain. And then he disappeared.

There was a loud cracking sound and the room began to shake.

“What's happening?” Stephen asked.

“The dream is collapsing,” Eames said very calmly, though he was keeping a wary eye on Helen. “Our time's almost up anyway, but unless you want to get stabbed by this one...” He didn't wait for Stephen to answer, just pulled a gun out and shot Stephen in the head. Then he did the same to Cutter before turning the gun on himself.

* * * * *

“Well?” Lester was asking, as the others all blinked awake. “How did it go?”

Arthur concentrated on disconnecting everyone from the machine, his lips in a thin line; he was trying very hard to keep his annoyance in check.

“We met Helen,” Eames helpfully supplied.

“Ah,” Lester said.

“If you do want to use the [PASIV device](http://www.pasivdevice.org/) in your training, I strongly suggest that Mr Cutter here seeks therapy before he goes under again,” Arthur said. He stood up straight, everything neatly stowed away and all indications were that he wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Eames couldn't blame him, these people were all clearly out of their minds.

“I'll take that under advisement,” Lester began to say. “I...” But whatever he was going to say he stopped upon seeing the look on Cutter's face as he pushed past him and marched out of the room, Stephen hot on his heels. “Thank you for your time,” Lester said instead. “It was most educational.”

Arthur and Eames nodded and headed off in the direction Cutter and Stephen had gone.

“Dinosaurs?” Eames asked through the corner of his mouth. Arthur shrugged and shook his head.

“The place must be a psychiatric hospital,” Arthur said. “That's the only explanation.”

And they both silently agreed never to refer to this job ever again. Not even when the story of woolly mammoths loose on a motorway made headlines around the world.

Especially not then.


End file.
